Raiders likely will focus on Derek Carr before Khalil Mack

Posted by Mike Florio on December 8, 2016, 4:29 PM EDT

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The Raiders emerged from the 2014 draft with great selections in round one and round two. By rule, both players (Khalil Mack and Derek Carr) are eligible for new contracts after the 2016 regular season ends.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Raiders are currently expected to focus on signing Carr before Mack.

The reason is simple; the Raiders have the ability to extend Mack’s four-year deal to five, given that he was a first-round pick. And they surely will do so before the May 3 deadline for exercising the fifth-year option.

Carr, as a second-round pick, has only one year remaining on his rookie contract. And so, without a new deal, the Raiders would be required to use the franchise tag on Carr to keep him off the open market in 2018.

So what will it take to sign Carr? Much of it depends on the outcome of the season, including the team’s playoff success and whether Carr, a league MVP candidate, wins the award. He could be able to leverage a top-of-the-market deal, which would represent an investment of the kind the Raiders haven’t had to make in the salary-cap era.

As for Mack, it’s currently believed he has no problem with waiting in line, in part because there’s really nothing he can do. Holding out technically is an option, but the daily fines and bonus forfeitures make it financially unwise.

The broader question is whether Mack eventually becomes frustrated with Carr, if Mack believes Carr is unreasonably refusing to sign a new deal so that the Raiders can then focus on Mack.

Wow. Really trying to stir up some drama here. These two dudes love each other- they made a pact to bring this team back together. The Raiders have the space to pay them both, and have acknowledged they are going to. Nothing to see here. Carr will get paid, then Mack. Move along NFL…….

The Raiders are a few million under the salary floor. There’s plenty of money to pay both players and then Gabe Jackson and Seth Roberts, and next year to extend Cooper. Haters are in for a bad decade or two. The Raiders are built for the long haul. They will win multiple championships with Carr at the helm

How does everyone whiff on this. Obviously something had to be done about rookies breaking the bank without having ever played a down in the NFL. Jamarcus Russell for example. That being said rookies now get squat and can’t get squat for there whole rookie deal. The inequity is blaring. If you start and contribute to your team winning, why not allow ownership to make an offer commensurate with the contribution? They haven’t set a minimum wage, they set a maximum wage and there ain’t much more un-American than that.